Life at the Top: The Worldview That Makes the Elites

A Russell Kirk Lecture

Theodore Dalrymple is well-known on both sides of the Atlantic for his incisive writings chronicling the devastating effects of progressive ideas on those they are intended to help. In Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass, Dalrymple showed how the root causes of poverty are to be found in ideas, promoted by our elites and adopted by the most vulnerable classes, excusing violence, drug use, and wanton behavior. In his first-ever lecture in Washington, D.C., Dalrymple will examine the flip side of the coin and discuss the prejudices of these elites. He will explain how their moral cowardice and the self-flattering nature of their beliefs account for their callous indifference to the ravages they have wrought. Dalrymple will shed some much-needed light on the appeal of liberalism and the psychological underpinnings of the elite liberal worldview.

Theodore Dalrymple, a retired psychiatrist, is among the most thoughtful writers of our time. A prolific writer, he has published more than 20 books and numerous essays. Dalrymple, who resides in France and Britain, is the Dietrich Weismann Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributor to City Journal. Theodore Dalrymple is the pen name of Anthony Daniels.

More About the Speakers

Theodore Dalrymple
Dietrich Weismann Fellow, The Manhattan Institute

Hosted By

David Azerrad, Ph.D.

Director, B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics and AWC Family Foundation Fellow
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